Identify the verb, subject, direct object and indirect object in the following sentence. Then translate.
mercator viro munera in foro dedit.

Brian G.

Answer:

First we see the verb is "dedit". We have two words that could be nominative: "mercator" and "munera". However, "munera" could also be accusative, and is plural, while the verb is 3rd person singular perfect. Since "munera" and "dedit" don't agree, it can't be the subject. That leaves "mercator" to be the subject and "munera" to be the direct object. We are looking for a dative to be the indirect object. "foro" could be dative, but it comes after the preposition "in" so is an ablative object of a preposition. "viro" is the other choice, and that's the indirect object. Now, putting it all together to translate, we get:
The merchant gave the man gifts in the forum.

Linguistics

TutorMe

Question:

Given the following English words, determine if [t] and [ʔ] are two separate phonemes or allophones of the same phoneme. If they are distinct phonemes, list a minimal pair. If they are allophones, determine which is more likely to be the underlying phoneme and write a rule deriving the other allophone from the underlying phoneme. (n̩ is a syllabic n)
[tɪp] tip
[kæt] cat
[bʌʔn̩] button
[tæki] tacky
[læʔn̩] Latin
[fæt] fat
[fæʔn̩] fatten

Brian G.

Answer:

The first thing to do is make a distribution table. Make a row/column for each of the possible phonemes showing all the possible sounds on either side. If the same environment occurs twice (like æ_# for [t] or æ_n̩ for [ʔ]), then you only need to list it once. # denotes a word boundary (end or beginning of a word).
[t]: #_ɪ æ_#, #_æ
[ʔ]: ʌ_n̩, æ_n̩
We can see that these sounds have distinct environments. They are in complementary distribution, not contrastive distribution. There are no minimal pairs. Therefore, these sounds are allophones of the same phoneme. [t] occurs in more environments, so we should assume it is the underlying phoneme. [ʔ] only occurs before a syllabic n (sometimes written [ən]). What comes before doesn't seem to matter. We now have what we need to write a rule:
/t/ --> [ʔ] / __n̩
(/t/ becomes [ʔ] before [n̩].)

English as a Second Language

TutorMe

Question:

Explain how to make and use the present perfect.

Brian G.

Answer:

First some examples:
I have taught English for two years.
She has never been to Korea.
Have you seen Maria today?
The present perfect has two parts: the present of "have" ("has" or "have") and the past participle (3rd form of the verb):
SUBJECT + have/has + PAST PARTICIPLE + ...
To make the negative we add "not/n't" or "never" between "have" and the past participle:
SUBJECT + have/has + not/n't/never + PAST PARTICIPLE + ...
To make a question, we use the form:
Have/Has + SUBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE + ... + ?
The first example sentence answers the question "How long...?". It is an unfinished action. It started in the past and continues to the present. I still teach English. It is often used with "for" + length of time or "since" + point in time.
The second sentence describes a life experience. It is a finished action. It is often used with "ever" in questions and "never" in negative sentences. She wasn't in Korea at any point in her life.
The third sentence describes an action with an unfinished time word. It cannot be used with past time words. It is asking about today, not yesterday.
These are just some of the most important uses of the present perfect to learn.

Send a message explaining yourneeds and Brian will reply soon.

Contact Brian

Ready now? Request a lesson.

Start Session

FAQs

What is a lesson?

A lesson is virtual lesson space on our platform where you and a tutor can communicate.
You'll have the option to communicate using video/audio as well as text chat.
You can also upload documents, edit papers in real time and use our cutting-edge virtual whiteboard.

How do I begin a lesson?

If the tutor is currently online, you can click the "Start Session" button above.
If they are offline, you can always send them a message to schedule a lesson.

Who are TutorMe tutors?

Many of our tutors are current college students or recent graduates of top-tier universities
like MIT, Harvard and USC.
TutorMe has thousands of top-quality tutors available to work with you.